Comb foundation



H. H. ROOT Oct. 1s, 1932.

ed Aug. 13. 1927 for use in beehives.

Patented 18, 1932 I IU NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE mm II. zoom, -o1! nimm, 0x10, ASSIGNOB 'J.'O TEE A. I. BOOT wurm, 01 nnnnu;

- omo, A conro1wrron 01 OHIO Applioation !Ilcd Anmut-18, 1987. Serial'll'o. 212,785.

My invention relates to comb foundation Such foundation ordinarily consists of a sheet of beeswax wl;ich by the use of dies, or an Gmbossing op erat xon is formed on opposite sides with begmmngs in greater or lass de e of. the cells. H oney comb made by the ees from such ordmary foundation W111 sag in the hive, with tl 1e result that the oells of the upper art W111 be distorted and comb cel1s in whic the queen should 1a worker eggs will not be usedat all for br or the queen will lay undes1rable drone eggs therein. The worker b1:ood are-a or capacity of the comb isttms restr1cted and may result in serious reduct1on m the strength of the colony. The solution of the roblem which this tendency of ordinary eeswax foundation has to stretch and sa and result in deformation of the cel1s has en sought by others in various ways all of which known to me have been objectionable for one reason o1 another. Thus wires have been embedded in the ioundation extending in various directions, thesebein objectionable becau se they am expensive an when intersecting wues are em loyed thebees often construct 1rregular celfi at the point of intersection of the wires. Wood and other materials have been proposed but because of mechanical difliculties, and of objection thereto by the bees for one reason or another their use has not been an acceptable or satisfactory solution of the roblem. The elements or factors entering 1nto the problem are thus economy of manufacture, avoidance of mechanical difliculties either in manufacture or occurring in the use of the foundation in the hive, and acceptability by the bees. A highly satisfactory solution of the problem presented was found by me in the subject of United States Patent N0. 1,583,- 605, May 4, 1926, in the use of superimposed sheets or layers, two outer ones of beeswax and an inner one of blended vegetable wax and beeswax. By my present invention I avoid the use of a middle layer or ply of a blend of vegetable wax and beeswax,in fast using no wax at all in a middle ply and employ in place thereof a material which like the blend of vegetable wax and beeswax fulfills all the practical requirements as to manufa cture and acceptability to the bees, and Wh1qh will serve the purpose of prevent- 1ng sagg1ng or distortion of the foundation, such als takes place with foundation of beeswax.

My invention consists in whatever is descnbed by er is included within the terms or sc ;pe of the appended claims.

n the annexed drawiixg:

.F g. 1 is a perspective v1ew of portions of the 1nner and outer sheets 0f material which m wht I now consider the hast embodiment of my 1nvent1on are used in production of comb foundation, the sheets being shown separated and before being favosiad;

F1g. 2 isa perspective view ofi a portion of comb foundation when made of the sheets 0:E mater1al shown in Fig. 1 withportionsof one of the outer and of the inner lziyers or lamina broken away.

The fnundation shown in the drawing to exemphfy my invention is a laminated structure of three layers or sheets, the two outer Iayers, 10, being of pure beeswax and the mn er layer, 11, being a manufactured product whgah on the market is known as cellophane, and Which may be readily obtained under that name. This mater-ial as I use it is a sheet that is vcry thin, about the thinness of letter paper approximately about one to thrce one-thousandths 0f an inch and Which may be 'considered a paper-like material, in thnt it is flexible and capable of being formed with depressions corresponding to the hexagonal cell bases, but un]ike true paper is nonfibrous, so that it lms a smooth surface on which 110 fibrous fo1matiou is presented, the absence of fibers being of great impor1nnce because bees will gnaw fibrous material soner 01' Intern Such material also has the Emportant property that unlike celluloid, hake- 1ite, and other synthctic materials, it has no od0r which is object?onable to bees, and hence, the foundation made in accordance with my prcsent invention is not open to objection by the bees on the score of odor, but is entirely acceptable to them. Another important physical characteristic of cellophane is its transparency so that there is nothing 0bjectionable in the appearance of the foundation in which it enters. Said material also has the requisite characteristics of tough1iess und strength for imparting to the foundation its lack in such respects when made as ordinary foundation is of pure beeswaX, sind thus foundation made in accordance with my invention has the non-stretching characteristic which is so important.

The layers or plies which forgn the sheet of fonndation are joined in a umtary or com-' posite sheet by the natural adhesiveness or stickiness of wax, and by the interlocking of the adjacent surfaces by the favose condit1on. However, it is not necessary in the practice of my invention to provide the outer plies in the form of aheady-made sheets of pure beeswax, but the sheet of cellophane or paper-like material having properties above set forth may be 1un through a bath of melted pure beeswax and thereby is caused the application of a coating 01 exterior covering of pure beeswax 0n opposite sides thereof, and then the res1;lting product is l'un thr0ugh a foundation mil By reason of the fact that cellophane may be used, in a very thin sheet and yet have the necessary o1 desired stremgth, the layers 0f beeswax may be made relatively thinner, this having the very important advantage of reduction 0f weight of the sheet of foundation, and thus giving a greater number of sheets of fonndation to the pound. Foundation made in accordance with my present invention Will not break in shipping nor in the honey extrctor. If by accident the combs are mutilated they may be melted up over a fire and the thin middle ply Will not me1t nor mix with the beeswax. Its resistance 1:0 heat en ables the foundations to withstand melting by the hottest sun. The mime cellophane is a trade name for a material which chemically is regenerated cellulose.

What I claim is:

l. Comb foundation comprising layers of beeswax and regenerated cellulose in the form of a thin sheet.

2. Comb foundation comprising layers of beeswax and regenerated cellulos'e in the form of a thin sheet between the beeswax layers.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

HUBER H. ROOT 

